


The Language of Love

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5+1 Things, Falling In Love, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22450309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: Tony knows only a few things for certain in this world.One: Rhodey will always have his back and he's damn blessed to have him in his life.Two: Pepper is terrifying and brilliant and he's damn blessed to have her in his life.Three — and this is the new one: He's in love with Steve Rogers.A 5+1 Things fic based onthe Love Languages concept.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 7
Kudos: 99
Collections: POTS (18+) Stony Stocking 2019





	The Language of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Meatball42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meatball42/pseuds/Meatball42) in the [stony_stocking_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stony_stocking_2019) collection. 



> Written for LilacChica's prompt:
> 
> _Tony tries to express his love through gifts, but that's not how it works for Steve. (I love 'love languages', so feel free to use that if you like)_
> 
> Please enjoy, dear!

Since the Battle of New York, Tony knows only a few things for certain in this world. 

One: Rhodey will always have his back and he's damn blessed to have him in his life.

Two: Pepper is terrifying and brilliant and he's damn blessed to have her in his life.

Three — and this is the new one: He's in love with Steve Rogers.

Everyone seems to be on board with the first two with him. The team takes to Rhodey being around all the time with good grace, and Rhodey doesn't seem to mind the gang of weirdos Tony's picked up. Pepper's suitably worried about the gang of weirdos Tony's picked up and the team is appropriately cowed by the power of her arched eyebrow. So, yeah, the first two seem to be truths to the rest of the team and the world too.

It's the third that he can never quite get right. No matter what he does, Steve never seems to understand what Tony's trying to do or how much Tony wants to be his. None of his usual strategies are working. It's been two months since Tony realized what that annoying feeling in his chest was every time he looked at Steve, and since then he's been doing everything he can think of to woo the man. He's starting to think it might be a lost cause. But never let it be said that Tony Stark bows down to seemingly impossible odds.

It's long past the time Tony should have needed to figure out what it is that will truly win him Steve's heart, and he's not about to give up now.

###  _1: Receiving Gifts_

"What's this?"

Tony's heart clenches at the tone in Steve's voice. It's nowhere near as warm and hopeful as he'd been expecting. Everybody likes gifts, right? Especially ones that—

"Tony."

Tony winces. He knows that tone. That's the tone Steve gets when Tony's fucked up in the field. "Yeah, Cap?"

"What is this?"

Tony licks his lips, trying to find the bravado and confidence he's had when he'd asked for the gift to be taken out of Howard's storage. "It's nothing, just a little something I thought you'd—"

"Tony."

Tony closes his eyes. "It's your dress uniform. From. From your Army days."

Steve looks down at the fabric in his hands. He's silent.

"I thought it would be a good thing, you know, something to remind you where you come from, maybe just to—"

"I know where I come from, Tony," Steve says quietly, not looking up from the uniform. He runs his thumb over the fabric. Tony can't parse the expression on his face. When he looks up, though, Tony's floored by the lost expression on Steve's features. "Thank you, Tony."

He doesn't sound grateful in the slightest.

(And if that cuts deep, knowing that even Howard might not be enough to earn his way back into Steve's good graces, well, Tony's well-versed in licking his wounds in private.)

###  _2\. Words of Affirmation_

"That was brilliant, Cap! I know you know your way around that shield, but sometimes when I see you in action it just blows my mind."

Steve turns to look at him. He has a curious half-smile on his face, and Tony knows a win when he sees one.

Never one to back down from an opening, Tony dives headfirst into the window Steve's opened for him. "Seriously, though, I know you've been around the block, and I know some of the Commandos were badass at hand-to-hand, but that doesn't come close to explaining—"

"Thanks, Tony."

Tony blinks at the shuttered look on Steve's face. "Yeah. Um. Yeah, sure thing."

Steve nods. "You, uh. You did good out there too."

"Right."

"Right."

When Steve turns and walks away, Tony can't help but think he must have messed this up. Again.

(And if Tony's silver tongue is going to get him into more trouble than out of it, well, that's just going to have to be one of those things he keeps close to the chest.)

###  _3\. Quality Time_

The MOMA visit is a stroke of brilliance that that comes to him when they're caught up in a battle near it three days after his last disastrous incident in trying to woo Steve. He does his damnedest to be cool about it, but he's pretty sure he fails miserably.

"I got invited to this opening for one of their newer showings, and I thought. Well. I thought it might be interesting?" He doesn't mean for it to come out that much like a question.

Steve's eyes brighten, something hopeful in his expression. He looks up at Tony. "There's two tickets here." It's less of a question than Tony's had been, but Tony can still hear the uncertainty in his voice.

God, he could kiss the man.

"Thought you might want to come along."

Steve goes bright-eyed and hopeful. "Yeah?

"Sure. Pepper was gonna be my date, but she's got SI things to deal with, so I figured I'd ask you."

"Oh."

Tony's heart skips a beat. Why why _why_ does his brain insist on filling in with bulshit when he doesn't have anything better to say? Open mouth, insert foot. "I mean—"

"No, no, I'm... I'm glad you thought of me." The words ring hollow, and Tony doesn't know what he's done to fuck this up this time. Whatever it is, though, he'd got to figure it out before he tries again. He's running out of options here.

(And if Tony spends more of their not-date watching Steve admire the art than he does looking at the pieces himself, well, Steve never has to know that.)

###  _4\. Acts of Service_

"Goddammit, Cap, let me help!"

Cap shoves Tony off his shoulder. "I'm fine, Shellhead. No need to get your panties in a twist."

Tony rears back. The words hit him dead center of his chest, leaving him winded. "What?"

"I said I'm fine."

"Bullshit."

Steve stops short, turning to glower at Tony over his shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"Bullshit you're fine. You've been limping the last half mile and you're still bleeding like crazy. I may be down two repulsors but the suit can still take your weight. Let me help you."

Steve stares at him, eyes distant and thoughtful. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. God knows an old man like you needs all the help he can get."

Steve's lips thin. "Right. Of course."

Tony winces, grateful that Steve can't see it from behind the helmet. But Steve sets his jaw and nods once. "Alright, then. Let's do what we need to do to get back to base camp."

"Right," Tony says, trying to hide his relief. "Right, let's do that." He slings a hand around Steve's waist and waits until Steve has a matching arm over his shoulder before he starts moving. It's a slow, steady pace, the same one they've set since Tony got knocked out of the sky forty minutes ago. Tony knows Steve could go a lot faster if he didn't have to worry about Tony hauling the suit around with him. At the same time, Tony isn't above moving even slower than necessary if it keeps Steve from working too hard on what Tony's certain is at least a sprained ankle. Whatever it takes to keep the man upright and moving.

"Not exactly the view I was hoping for," Steve says, looking out over the forested terrain.

Tony leaps at the chance to have a real conversation with the man. "Why's that?"

Steve shrugs. Tony can't feel it through the armor, and that's a damn shame. "Just hits a little too close to home."

It takes Tony a moment to process what he must mean. When he does, his stomach twists. "That so?"

Steve hums. If Tony didn't know any better, he'd be worried that the man had a concussion on top of everything else. Steve doesn't say anything, though. Tony considers trying to coax something more out of him, but thinks better of it at the last moment.

He's done enough damage already. Better not to dig the hole any deeper.

(And if Tony stays glued to Steve's side while Bruce looks him over after they get back to basecamp, well, he can pretend that's all a teammate's concern.)

###  _5\. Physical Touch_

Team movie night starts out almost by accident. Tony certainly never agreed to it. Still, he can't deny that there's something comforting about being with the team when there isn't a pressing need. When death isn't coming for them and they can just enjoy one another's company. What had started as a thinly veiled attempt to get Steve caught up on all the films he'd missed has turned into an excuse for them to ply the poor man with whatever ridiculous movies they can come up with. Tony finds he learns just as much about his teammates through their movie tastes as he does in combat.

Steve's good-natured about the whole thing, and on one or two occasions actually insists on showing them some of the movies he'd enjoyed back before the war. Tony always knows when one of those days is coming. JARVIS had started keeping an eye on Steve's search history after the first time he hadn't been able to find one of the films in question. At Tony's insistence, JARVIS had started helpfully filtering Steve's results after that.

Tonight, though, is Thor's night to choose, which means they're watching yet another romcom from the late nineties. It's enough to have Tony dozing on Steve's shoulder by halfway through the first act.

Steve's stiff under him, and it takes Tony a moment to realize why. He forces himself awake and upright. "Sorry," he mutters.

Steve turns to look at him. His eyes are unreadable. Tony doesn't know what to make of it.

"It's fine," Steve says. His voice is hoarse, and Tony wants so badly to know what's going on in his head. Steve turns away before Tony can glean any more information from his face. "You need the rest."

Tony doesn't have the mental wherewithal to respond to that.

"It's fine."

Tony doesn't argue. He just leans his head back on Steve's shoulder and tries not to wish for more.

(And if Tony wakes up in his own bed in the morning with no memory of how he got there, well, he's had to face the music before. This won't be any different.)

###  _+1. A Little Bit of Everything_

Tony doesn't mean to offer up his lab as a safe place for Steve to come to. In fact, when he really thinks about it, it had been one of those unspoken things that just _happened_ where Steve was concerned.

Not that he minded. The lab could get lonely sometimes, even with JARVIS and the bots for company. Having Steve there alleviated some of that.

Steve usually brings his sketchbook with him, and more than once Tony catches the sound of him muttering about paper quality and color bleed. When Tony had asked, Steve had only said that the paper bleaching made everything look different than he was used to.

Tony couldn't tell the difference, frankly. Pepper was always the art aficionado in their brief attempt at a relationship. Everything Steve did looked museum quality to him. But if Steve wasn't happy, that was what mattered.

And it was obvious that this was important to Steve. That, in Tony's book, was nothing more or less than invitation to intervene. It takes a solid ten days of research and arguing with a manufacturer to get what he needs, but he pulls it off. All he has to do now is get it to Steve.

He just has to hope it won't be one more step in the wrong direction.

"Tony." Steve's voice is tight and measured when he comes into the lab to find the wrapped package on the couch where he usually sits. Tony's not sure he's going to make it out of this with their friendship intact if he's fucked this up too, but he's always been reckless. In this too he can't help but be the same. "What's this?"

"Look, Steve, just hear me out. It's—"

"I don't need your charity or whatever the hell this is, I just—"

"It's. It's a sketchbook." Steve goes silent. Tony plows ahead, hoping that this might not be yet another fuck-up. "Same company as the one that made yours in the war. I asked for one as close to historically accurate as they could get me."

"Tony—"

"No, Steve, hear me out. I think I know why none of this has been working. What I've been doing wrong. You're here in the future, in this new world, and you're trying to adapt. To adjust. Everything I've been doing, it all just reminded you of the past. Am I wrong?"

Steve shakes his head. His eyes are wide and wondering, but Tony doesn't let that deter him.

"So I figured, there has to be something I can do to help you see that there's more to this than just... just who the newsreels made you out to be. Because there is, Steve. You're so...

"And I just. I just wanted you to see that. To know how much you mean to me." Tony stumbles over those words, heart in his throat. Has he said too much? "How much you mean to everyone, that is."

Steve's still staring at him, wide-eyed and surprised. "You did this for me?"

"I mean, yeah, but it's not a—"

Steve's moving, surging forward toward Tony. Before Tony can do a damn thing to stop it, Steve's embracing him.

Not that Tony would have tried to stop it if he'd known it was coming, but it's the principle of the thing.

Tony returns the embrace in kind, clinging to Steve as though this might be his last chance. Steve presses his face against Tony's throat, and Tony can feel the smile against his skin. "Thank you, Tony."

Tony closes his eyes, tightening his grip on Steve. "You haven't even tried it yet."

"Doesn't matter." Tony can _hear_ the smile now, and that tightens something in his chest. "I know it's gonna be perfect."

Tony pulls back, wearching Steve's face. There's something warm there, warm and hopeful and—

Tony can't help it. He's always been reckless.

Tony goes up on his tiptoes and kisses Steve square on the mouth.

Steve freezes, and for a moment Tony thinks he's gone too far. But then Steve's tightening his grip around Tony's waist with one hand and reaching up to cup his cheek with the other, tilting Tony's head just _so_ and, oh, that's... that's everything Tony never knew he could have. Tony melts into the kiss, letting Steve take whatever he wants. It's warm and heady and perfect and all Tony can do is want.

But he forces himself to pull back a little, just far enough to search Steve's eyes. "Steve—"

"Tony." Steve's eyes are sparkling with mirth and hope.

Tony can't help it. He laughs. "Well alright, then."

Steve tucks his face against Tony's throat and smiles against the skin there. "Guess we've just been going at this all wrong, haven't we?"

"Maybe. But we got here. That's what matters."

Steve hums. "Guess you're right." He pauses, nosing at Tony's neck. "Is that what this dance has been for the last four months? You trying to woo me or whatever?"

Tony laughs weakly, arms tensing and loosening around Steve. "I didn't mess this up with all that, did I?"

Steve tightens his grip. "No. No, not at all."

"Oh. That's... that's good."

Steve smiles again. "Don't think there's much you could do to mess this up," he says softly. Tony snorts. Steve pulls back with a frown. "Tony—"

"I don't have the best track record," Tony points out before Steve can get any further.

"Doesn't matter. I want this, Tony, more than I think I've wanted anything since I came to the twenty-first century. You're it for me, Tony. I want this."

Tony stares up at Steve, searching his face for any uncertainty or deceit. He finds none. He laughs, leaning against Steve. "Well, damn. Okay then."

Steve pulls Tony closer. "Okay then.

Tony leans into Steve, uncaring of what it might look like to an outside observer. Let them look. Let them wonder. This is just for the two of them.


End file.
